Del City coach Nick Warehime is no stranger to seeing Division I quality athletes during his long coaching career.

Corey Lawrence, he said, might be the best of them.

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: Del City's Corey Lawrence (3) is dragged down on the opening series by Ayo Oyesanya (65) as the Norman High School Tigers play the Del City Eagles on Thursday, September 15, 2011, in Norman, Okla. Photo by Steve Sisney, The Oklahoman ORG XMIT: KOD

“He's got that ‘it' factor,” Warehime said. “He might be the most athletic kid I've ever been around. He can dunk a basketball to his elbow; when he was a sophomore, he anchored the 4x100 state championship team.

Lawrence is also No. 17 on The Oklahoman's Super 30 list of recruits.

He has offers from a range of schools that includes Kansas State, Tulsa, Indiana, Arkansas State, Indiana and North Texas and is likely to add more as his exposure grows.

The question about Lawrence in college will be where he winds up on the field. Some schools are recruiting him as a wide receiver, while others are looking at him as either a safety or cornerback.

“I'd rather play slot (receiver) if I had my choice,” Lawrence said. “But I'm open to playing defense too.”

Last year, Lawrence missed time after suffering an injury late in the season just as he was about to be even a greater part of the Eagles' offense.

“The biggest thing for him is his health,” Warehime said. “When he got hurt, we were headed in the direction of him running a lot of the wildcat offense because he was so knowledgeable about the game.”

Lawrence started at cornerback as a sophomore and started on both sides of the ball as a junior last year.

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Ryan Aber has worked for The Oklahoman since 2006, covering high schools, the Oklahoma City RedHawks, the Oklahoma City Barons and OU football recruiting. An Oklahoma City native, Aber graduated from Northeastern State. Before joining The...